Paste Inlays in the Decoration of Early Iron Age Vessels from the Lower Don Region

This paper presents the studies of paste-inlay samples from decorative grooves on fragments of two vessels from the Early Iron Age burial mound Peschaniy IV (Remontnensky raion, Rostov oblast). Vessel 1 is similar in type to North Caucasian ceramics and vessel 2 is similar to the ceramics of the Crimean steppe. A comprehensive study included the following methods: scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X‑ray microanalysis, X-ray diffraction analysis, infrared (IR) spectroscopy. The paste of North Caucasian vessel 1 was made of natrojarosite powder mixed with kaolinite and was fired at a temperature in the range of 450–600°C. The paste of vessel 2 was made of calcite. The morphological features of the calcareous platelets of coccolithophores found in the calcite confirm that the origin of the raw material of the paste is the territory of Crimea.